1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns an apparatus which actively refolds and stacks continuous form paper which is outputted from a printer or other device which uses continuous form paper.
2. Description of Background Information
Refolding and stacking of continuous form paper is often accomplished by passive gravity fed stackers, which may take the form of a wire basket or other box shaped configuration. However, problems often arise with these types of stackers, since continuous form papers have a tendency to mis-stack or mis-fold over the course of stacking large numbers of sheets of the same. A mis-stack is defined as any media movement in the stacker that results in a fatal printer fault (i.e., the printer halts), causes the media to overflow the stacker, or requires operator intervention. A mis-fold is defined as abnormal media handling in the stacker that allows printing and stacking to continue and does not result in paper jams, fatal printer faults, or stacker overflow.
With the advent and commonplace use of laser printers, occurrences of mis-stacks and mis-folds have been exacerbated. The heat pressure rollers that the laser printer uses to fuse the toner image onto the printer paper tend to iron out the perforations between the sheets of the continuous form paper. As a result, the paper folds lose their memory and have a tendency not to easily refold into a neat stack. As printer speeds have improved over time, the occurrences of mis-folds and mis-stacks have further increased.
Various stackers, both active and passive, have been developed to address the above problems. Analog Technology Corp. has developed a stacker which consists of a wire-form paper guide for receiving the paper at the printer exit, a passive spring supported elevator stacker assembly incorporated into a printer stand, and a small module containing two motor-driven tractor belts. The motor driven tractor belts pull down only the weak side perforations (where face stocks are opposed) to improve the stacking operation.
DeNoon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,291, discloses an apparatus which utilizes a rotating beater brush to partially lessen the stiffness at the fold lines of the paper exiting a printer. The paper then moves downward toward a stacking support between paddle towers. The towers each contain a continuous belt of hinged paddles which urge the paper into folds.